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Product Description

Wondering if your church should open an additional ministry location? Based on LifeWay Research findings from 40 multi-site congregations, McConnell's resource will help you decide if this type of growth is right for you. Includes information on how and when to proceed; practices and mistakes to avoid; and first-person advice from leading multi-site church pastors. 256 pages, softcover from B&H.

Publisher's Description

Based on research of forty congregations that have grown by opening one or more additional worship locations, Multi-Site Churches provides the next generation of believers interested in this same type of growth with practical insights about how and when to proceed. Common practices and mistakes to avoid are clearly explained, and first-person advice and anecdotes from leading multi-site church pastors offer an invaluable advantage for when your church considers whether or not to follow this path of ministry.

Author Bio

Scott McConnell is associate director of LifeWay Research and has researched the needs and preferences of churches for ten years. He received a bachelor of science degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and lives with his wife and children in Nashville, Tennessee.

In the culture that is called Christianity today, fads come and go. Understanding the fads that shape how our churches exist in that culture is often a huge challenge for leaders in every setting. In an attempt to provide guidance for those considering one of those fads, Scott McConnell has given a guide about multi-site churches.This book is an easy flowing and readable book. It is arranged in such a way that the reader can get to know the personalities McConnell interviewed through sidebars interjected throughout. Tables in the back give particulars about the various ministries including web addresses.It must be noted, however, that this is not a theological book. Nor is it a book to influence positively those that would disagree with a multi-site church model. This work is to help those who have already decided, or are close to deciding, to move into the realm of multi-site churches.This book is more akin to a business or marketing guide. In fact, it could be easily titled Multi-Site Coffee Shops and still use the outline of the book. The foreword by Ed Stetzer even used a similar analogy to introduce Multi-Site Churches. This is the strength of the book.Even so, because it is a book about churches and how those churches can be more effective there is some attempt at establishing some theological grounds for this church model. Biblical referencing was weak when used and often twisted to fit the model. Instead of making the biblical data fit the model, the model should have been presented as another way to move forward in the great commission. This is the weakness of the book.Multi-Site Churches is a well written book. It is for people involved in, considering, or expanding multi-site as a model for ministry. I do not recommend it for leaders who wish to continue in single-site ministry. As McConnell stated in his epilogue, In the end multi-site is a tool. The reader must choose the right tool.